Is that a decent charger? It says it will charger all three types of batteries according to towerhobbies.com. I am considering purchasing this for my E-Starter combo that I am going to purchase. I had a question however, according the gwsexpert.com the beginner combo comes equipped with JST connectors. Will I need some type of adapter to connect with this charger? Or will I need to purchase extra JST connectors and solder them onto the leads on the charger? Also, I can just hook this right up to my car battery correct?

Any help on clearing this up would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

buzzbomber

10-05-2005, 07:20 PM

It's a good basic charger. I know two people currently using them, and they both seem happy with it. As long as you realize that it won't charge high voltage packs for really large planes, it's fine for the average parkflyer pilot. You will need adapters to connect the battery to the charger--the charger has banana jack outputs, so you will need an adapter with banana plugs on one end and a female JST on the other end, whether you buy a pre-made adapter or solder your own is up to you. Finally, yes, the charger comes with alligator clips, so you can connect it to any 12v power supply, be it a regulated PS or a battery.

rcflier47

10-05-2005, 07:23 PM

Meegosh,
I have one of the chargers, it works well for me. You will have to buy leads for it regardless what type of connector you use. I use Futaba you buy as a set for about $8.00 at the LHS. You will have to solder ends onto your leads to work with the jst plugs. You can make your own if you have banana plugs laying around. You will have to change the ends also to plug into your lighter socket,it comes with clips. Good luck rcflier47

meegosh

10-05-2005, 07:55 PM

I had to remove the connectors with my R/C truck charger and put on deans connectors so I guess I will just do the same with the JST connectors. Now rcflier was saying something about plugging it into your cigarette lighter, is that correct? If that is not the case, you just clip the aligators onto the batt leads under the hood correct? Thanks for the quick responses guys! Has anyone tried charging LiPo's with this? I am getting a E-Starter so I will not be flying large planes with large electronics in them. Just parkflyers like he said.

Thanks again! You guys rock!

buzzbomber

10-05-2005, 08:31 PM

If you replace the alligator clips with banana plugs, you can get alligator clips that plug onto the banana plugs to allow you to use a battery source, and Radio Shack sells a cigarette lighter plug which has banana jack outputs, allowing you to use your car's lighter. This is how I have my triton charger set up.

rcflier47

10-06-2005, 01:03 AM

I've charged lipos a couple of times and it seems to do fine. I have a friend who used to charge lipos all the time. He uses a triton now because you can monitor the packs. rcflier47

Hotshot Charlie

10-06-2005, 02:13 AM

This charger seems to put a better charge on my Lipo's than my Triton charger does. I like it, it's simple and does the job. Never a moments trouble with it.

nate1001

10-06-2005, 11:09 PM

this charger doesn't fully charge a lipo battery. it only charges I think to 90%. this is beacuse it is designed for lion which are 7.2v not 7.4. I believe this is the same for the triton. it won't hurt the battery, you just won't get 10% which you might not care about.

Hotshot Charlie

10-07-2005, 12:00 AM

Just my opinion, but you risk battery damage by trying to charge a lipo to 100%. I live with 90% charge without the risk of over-charging. I do feel that the MkII puts a better charge on the batteries than the Triton, which is VERY conservative.

nate1001

10-07-2005, 03:25 AM

I have the duratrax ice and it can charge these batteries to 8.4v which is a full charge. the batteries have more punch and so far the batteries are doing good

vicman

10-10-2005, 03:04 PM

I have been using mine for a year and a half now and love it. It is the main charger I use for all my stuff. I think it is the best $49 I have spent in a long time.

millet_flyer

10-10-2005, 03:22 PM

Versatile, economical, I've been using it for over two years now. Replaced one fuse, made up all the connectors (JST, Deans...) Run with it!!

meegosh

10-10-2005, 05:44 PM

Thanks for the responses guys, I am certainly going with the MK11 based on all the positive reviews I have been reading.

I'll let you know how it works once I get mine! :D

danmilo

12-27-2005, 06:54 AM

I agree with the previous posts. I have used the Mark II on all three types of batteries. Works great and I feel very safe using it on my various packs. I really enjoy being able to charge two packs at once.

Dan;)

rotary65

12-28-2005, 08:13 PM

I own one and do not trust it because it has automatic cell detection with no feedback to the user as to the number of cells it sees. I lost a brand new 4 cell 2000 maH NiMH receiver pack due to this charger. We concluded that the pack was probably above the 4 cell max detection voltage and the charger probably saw it as a 5 cell. The other possibility was that it missed peak.

All Hobbico needs to do to remedy this is to modify the firmware add an indicator (flash the LEDs or sound the buzzer) to confirm the number of cells detected.

Personally, I would not trust it to charge lipos. With all the money we spend on this hobby (especially for batteries), why not buy a more capable charger that will do larger packs?

I still own my MKII and use it to charge NiMH, but I monitor the charge voltage with a meter throughout the charge and stay to < .5C as a precaution. My primary chargers are an Apache 2500 and a Schulze isl 6-330d.

http://calvinmartini.homeunix.org/pub_pics/2005-09-30_batteries.jpg

TRASHBUG

12-29-2005, 02:54 AM

A good basic charger that will charge two batteries at once. You can hook up a volt meter to keep track of the battery voltage if that's your thing.

I have a MKII as do two of my flyin buddies. We have used them to charge lipos for the past 12 months with absolutly no problems. I also use mine for NIMH and have had no problems.

crast test dummie

12-29-2005, 10:09 PM

I have both of these chargers. The MK2 has been flawless in it's operation, however it will only charge my 3 cell Lipos to 12.25 V or even sometimes less. It also only charges at 1C which isnt a bad thing if you charge smaller packs. It takes 2 hours to charge my 2100 Mah 3 cell TP pack. My Triton will charge at twice the rate 2.5C [ 1 hour to charge the same pack. it peaks my Lipos to 12.60 every time. What I like about the MK2 is that I can charge 2 at the same time. I would take just as long to charge 2 packs on my Triton.

I have been charging on the MK2 and then I peak the voltage of the packs on the Triton. As far as auto cell detect, I don't think it does that. I use the programing to tell it which battery I'm charging and what it's Mah is and voltage is, it also lets me set the C rating for the charge. Theres almost nothing automatic about the Triton.

CTD

RonJ

12-30-2005, 03:32 AM

My MK II is permanently mounted to the dash of my old beater. Charge mostly NIMH's. Get a call that the gang is meeting at the field, hop into my Blue Bomb, plug a couple of GP1100's into the MK II and by the time I get to the field they are ready. Get 15-20 minute flights off each pack and have a third pack that fills in the time gaps. Almost like non stop fly'n with the MK II.
On lipo's I use an Apachee 2500 but some of the other guys use the MK II for lipos with no problems.
Oh, I did have to replace the switch on the MK II. Had problems with early peaking. A better switch solved the problem.

RonJ

SigMan

01-03-2006, 10:44 AM

help , i either have a bad pack or bad charger, trying to charge a 3-cell 1250 kokam charged as per instuctions and it ranfor 3-4 minutes , then charged again and it will barely work my servos, checked and rechecked everything, so i dont know, do i set the dial to 2 amps while charging, i have had it it set to 1 amp.

SigMan

01-03-2006, 10:48 AM

also , i unhooked the battery from the ESC and pluged it directly to a old brushed 400 motor to test it and it turn the motor over barely one time.

TRASHBUG

01-03-2006, 10:56 AM

also , i unhooked the battery from the ESC and pluged it directly to a old brushed 400 motor to test it and it turn the motor over barely one time.

Don't set it to two amps. What kind of charger are you using? What have you been using this battery for and for how long?

SigMan

01-03-2006, 03:06 PM

im using the hobbico field charger mk11, i charged it once, while i was asssembling and setting up the plane,everyting seemed ok during initial testing, the i charged it the second time and plugged it to th ESC and my servo's moved a couple time and tha was it. so ive narrowed to the battery, the charger, or the radio, whice is not very likely is it ? i put the battery back on the charger and within a miniute it was beeping like it was full, so i dont know what to do now. i guess i fried the battery somehow. if i did, i have to seriously rethink the electric plane arena, at 60-80 bucks a pop per battery, cant afford to go this route!

TRASHBUG

01-03-2006, 03:23 PM

SM

I have never had a glitch with my MKII. Hard believe your battery gave up. Sooooooooo, FIRST you need to put a volt meter on the battery and see what kind of reading you get.

The NEXT option is to check you MKII and make sure the output polarity is right. If you reverse the Polarity on the output it will start beeping within a minute (after it figures out you have things plugged in backwards):) This might lead you to belive the battery is charged.

Check pack voltage first. Seems to me I remember a freshly charged 3s pack will read in excess of 12v.

Could also be the esc but doesn't sound like it at this point.

lol

RonJ

01-03-2006, 03:28 PM

Might be a bad charger. Think they have a 2 year warranty on the MK II.
Try to find someone else that has a lipo charger and try to charge with that one to see if your Kokam is bad. If it gets down below 3 V per cell you may have a bad pack. I have revived one pack by putting it on a regular charger for a few minutes to get it up to 3V/cell. If you do this have a fire extinguisher in hand just in case.
Don't give up on lipos, they are a great invention but must be handled with care. Happy to see the prices are coming down.